Minister of State Sam Gyimah MP opens new Schrodinger Building at Oxford Science Park

Minister of State Sam Gyimah MP opens new Schrodinger Building at Oxford Science Park

The state-of-the-art Schrödinger Building at The Oxford Science Park, one of the UK's leading parks for science and technology companies, was opened yesterday by Sam Gyimah MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research & Innovation. Architecturally inspiring and built to promote collaboration and cross-fertilisation of ideas, the four-storey office and laboratory facility is part of the programme of investment on the Park which has been ongoing since 2016. The building is named after Professor Erwin Schrödinger, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933 and an alumnus of Magdalen College Oxford, which owns The Oxford Science Park.

As well as declaring the Schrödinger Building open, the Minister heard about the work of 3D technology innovator Fuel3D and Oxford Sciences Innovation, its first two occupiers. A third occupant is expected to be announced shortly.

At 61,500 ft2 (net internal area), the £13m Schrödinger Building is the largest speculative Grade A office building to be developed on The Oxford Science Park and the first new building on the Park since Magdalen College became its sole owner in 2016. It is expected to house over 300 people once completed, and features a roof terrace overlooking the Park. Schrödinger’s legacy is celebrated in the building’s reception area with a backdrop panel highlighting the wave-particle duality which underpinned his Nobel Prize-winning work.

Science Minister, Sam Gyimah said: ‘It’s an honour to open the Schrödinger Building at the Oxford Science Park, a place where ideas come to life. The businesses found here bring together world-leading research and the spirit of entrepreneurship. They hold the key not just to economic growth, but to how we solve our biggest societal challenges. I’m committing to making the UK the best place in the world for innovators to turn ideas into world-changing businesses. In our Industrial Strategy, we have committed to increasing R&D investment by a third over the next decade. To make the most of this, we will need to create the conditions for the disruptive businesses and dynamic thinkers of tomorrow to thrive.’

Piers Scrimshaw-Wright, Managing Director of The Oxford Science Park, said, ‘The Schrödinger Building is a significant new addition to the Park and it is an honour to have Minister Gyimah here to declare it open. The scientists who discovered the structure of DNA in 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick, both cited the thinking of Schrödinger as influential in their own work. This work in turn has made much of the research that is performed here at The Oxford Science Park possible. We are sure that the occupiers of this exciting new building will make a significant contribution to the vibrant science and technology ecosystem we have here.’